OT: Operation Datysuk: Engage

Like the other EA games, NHL is partaking in the Cover Vote madness for their upcoming NHL13 and the one and only Pavel Datysuk is not only a candidate but a #1 Seed and MgoCommunity can help put one of the league's most deserving players on the cover.

IMO, he will win his side of the bracket with no problem but could have a tough "championship" round against the likes of Claude Giroux, Scotty Hartnell, or Evgeni Malkin.

The Eastern Conference opening round is this week, but you can starting voting for Pavel Datysuk (or Sharp for you other dirtballs) next week!

shut down Crosby defensively, and had 15 point series. He has been doing this all season and is an MVP finalist. His coach called him the " best player in the world." And youre saying he's not top 15? That's crazy.

matched with the other teams top unit. He had to step up defensively and still be his teams top producer. He succeeded beyond measures in both. Watch any flyers game and you will see Giroux is always the best player on the ice. Unless hes playing Crosby.

Giroux at +6 was better than Perry (-7), Ovechkin (-8), Kovalchuk (-9), Kessel (-10), and Nash (-19). Now +/- is not a good stat to judge a player by, but as a Wings fan that watched a number of Flyers games this year, it was obvious that Giroux was one of the best players on the ice.

Isnt the only stat that matters, Philly's goaltending has been brutal and there are other guys on the ice with him...he's easily a top 15 player in the nhl this season, who knows if he'll keep playing at a high level though.

24. He was born in 88 so unless my math is wrong that makes him 24 this year. I also wouldn't say he is 'easily" top 5. The top five players in the world are pretty damn good and my top four would be Crosby, Malkin Ovechkin and Stamkos. I would say the next spot could be a pretty intense debate.

With talent evaluation skills like that, boy am I glad you're not in charge of the Wings roster. Who exactly are these 10 players you'd put over Giroux (taking into consideration that he's all of 24 years old)? I can think of about 4 players - Crosby, Malkin, Stamkos, and maybe Quick. I think Datsyuk is a better all-around player, but he's also going to be 34 in June, and I think Giroux hasn't maxed out his potential yet (which is kinda scary).

if you don't hink Giroux is a top fifteen player, I don't think you know much about hockey. I can think of a few that you could argue are better (and a couple who definitely are) and they would be Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin and Stamkos. After that he belongs in the conversation. Whether it is he or Toews or a few others, but he is definitely a top ten player.

Also, saying one good season doesn't make him great neglects to take into account that this is just a young kid coming into his own. If he was 28 or 29 I would agree with you, but this is just Girous coming of age (he just turned 24). He is going to be a force in this league for a long time, and unfortunately (for me at least) I think the flyers will be too if the get some goaltending.

I don't know that I would put Ovechkin above Giroux anymore. He's really come back to earth after his first few seasons. He's still a world-class talent, but unless he gets back to the 50+ goal seasons of years past I don't know that I would take him over Giroux.

Hockey is one of the hardest sports to judge how good a player is. I nmost sports it's obvious who the best players are, but when you talk to someone in the NHL it will surprise you what they think about certain players.

I don't like you. The minute you started talking, I instantly recognized you as someone suffering from DoesntKnowShit-itis. I'll keep it very brief - obviously ranking playearrs who are all world-class in the first place(Datsyuk, Giroux, Malkin, Stamkos etc) is a fruitless, subjective exercise. But other than Pavel Datsyuk, there isn't a more promising two-way player in the league today than Claude Giroux - and he's 10 years younger than Datsyuk. If you want to use the opinions of people within the NHL, I think you'll find yourself to be even more of an idiot when you see how universally-lauded Giroux is as one of the three/five/ten/whatever best players in the world.

I don't like you. The minute you started talking, I instantly recognized you as someone suffering from DoesntKnowShit-itis. I'll keep it very brief - obviously ranking players who are all world-class in the first place(Datsyuk, Giroux, Malkin, Stamkos etc) is a fruitless, subjective exercise. But other than Pavel Datsyuk, there isn't a more promising two-way player in the league today than Claude Giroux - and he's 10 years younger than Datsyuk. If you want to use the opinions of people within the NHL, I think you'll find yourself to be even more of an idiot when you see how universally-lauded Giroux is as one of the three/five/ten/whatever best players in the world.